industrial overlord

Chapter 650
At the southern tip of the Asian continent, there is a long and narrow peninsula that separates the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea. This peninsula is called the Malay Peninsula.Because of the existence of the Malay Peninsula, the route from the South China Sea to the Andaman Sea has to make a big bend and pass through the Strait of Malacca between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, Indonesia.

There is a very narrow section of the Malay Peninsula that belongs to Thailand. The narrowest point is only about 50 kilometers. From the map, it is almost as slender as a bee’s waist. This section is the Isthmus of Kra.As early as 400 years ago, someone proposed the idea of ​​digging a canal in the Kra Isthmus to connect the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, so that ships no longer need to go around the Strait of Malacca.

Discussions about opening the Kra Isthmus have been on and off over the past few hundred years, and the Thai government has become increasingly interested in building a canal as oil shipments from the Middle East to East Asia have increased.

In 1972, the Thai Petroleum Refining Company and Petrochemical Company commissioned an engineering association of the American Research Institute to conduct research on the economic efficiency of the Kra Canal. Later, the Federal Institute of Marine Transport Economics in Bremen, Germany also participated in this work. The agency estimated that the excavation cost was as high as US$60 billion. Such a huge sum of money was beyond the reach of the Thai government, so the project was shelved.

In 2001, the Thai government raised the issue of the Kra Canal again, and received support from Japan.Due to inflation and other reasons, the budget of this project reached 200 billion US dollars, which was called "the project of the century" by the media.

According to the Thai government's vision, the Kra Canal will be excavated near the narrowest point of the Kra Isthmus, with a total length of about 102 kilometers, a width of 400 meters, and a water depth of 25 meters.According to estimates, if the Kra Canal is completed, oil tankers from the Persian Gulf to East Asia can save 50 miles of voyage, shorten the voyage time by 700-2 days, and save 5 US dollars per trip.In addition, due to the influence of channel siltation, only a fleet of 30 tons can pass through the Strait of Malacca, which is also unmatched by the Kra Canal.

In addition to economic considerations, the Isthmus of Kra has other advantages, especially the advantages of shipping safety.The Strait of Malacca is more than 1000 kilometers long, and the two sides of the Strait belong to Malaysia and Indonesia. The governments of the two countries have relatively weak control capabilities in this area, which has led to rampant pirates.According to statistics, half of the world's annual piracy attacks occur in the Strait of Malacca, and pirates like to patronize those large, slow-moving large oil tankers.

The construction of the Kra Canal will allow oil tankers to avoid this dangerous sea area, thus avoiding international trade losses of more than tens of billions of dollars.As Japan, which is heavily dependent on oil in the Persian Gulf, its interest in digging this canal has always been very high.

In China, some people in the industry are also discussing the issue of the Kra Canal. With the increasing dependence on import and export trade, China will replace Japan as the largest shipping customer in the Straits of Malacca. The significance of digging the Kra Canal to China is becoming more and more More and more recognized by relevant government departments, shipping companies and academic circles.

Regarding these matters, Chen Tian was very clear, but Lin Zhenhua was a little late.Even if he was a traverser, the Kra Canal was only a conception during the time he traversed, and it had not been put into practice.One of the very important reasons is Singapore's opposition.

The Kra Canal is a replacement for the Malacca Strait. Once the Kra Canal is completed, the number of ships passing through the Malacca Strait will be reduced by more than half, if not all of them will be diverted.Among them, most of the tankers are likely to abandon the Malacca route and choose to pass through the Kra Canal.

Singapore's prosperity today is largely due to its location at the throat of the Strait of Malacca.Since hundreds of millions of tons of oil pass through here every year, Singapore has become one of the three major oil product trading centers in the world. The refined oil smelting and other industries are very developed and have become an important pillar of the local economy.

The Thai government's push for the Kra Canal plan is also because it is jealous of Singapore's huge profits from the oil entrepot trade.As early as in the plan in 1972, the Thai government proposed to rely on the Kra Canal to build a southern industrial zone, including fertilizer, steel, petrochemical, export processing trade, ship repair and other industries. All these industries are for Singapore. Substitution of existing industries.

In the plan of 2001, the Thai government unabashedly proposed to build large-scale oil refineries, oil storage depots and other facilities at both ends of the Kra Canal, which is the basis for building an oil trading center.Under the instigation of the Thai government, Unocal, Mobil, and Shell in the United States, Itochu Corporation, Mitsui Corporation in Japan, etc., all expressed their intention to invest in the construction of an oil trading and refining center in Thailand.

Faced with the Thai government's "robbery" behavior, Singapore's political and business circles were shocked. On the one hand, they vehemently denied the Kra Canal plan in the media, saying that the plan would not make money, and even threatened that if any country wanted to punish Kra Canal To invest in the canal plan, it is necessary to prepare for the funds to be embezzled by Thai officials.On the other hand, shuttle diplomacy has been launched to unite various countries to boycott the Kra Canal plan.

As a newly rising country in East Asia, China is no less interested in the Kra Canal than Japan, so it has also become an important target for Singapore's lobbying.Out of the consideration of maintaining the so-called "friendly relationship between China and New Zealand", China has adopted a silent attitude towards the Kra Canal proposal, that is, neither explicitly expressing its opposition nor openly supporting it.As for the Chinese investment that the Thai government is looking forward to, there is naturally no news.

Lin Zhenhua had never heard of the Kra Canal, and it was also because the country deliberately kept a low profile in terms of public opinion.In addition, there are still some professors in China with Singaporean salaries, as well as the newly sprouted Internet trolls, who are constantly pouring cold water on the Kra Canal plan, which also makes it impossible for discussions on this plan to form a climate in China.

As a high-ranking official of the Thai government, Jirapong always has the string of the Kra Canal in his mind. Hearing Lin Zhenhua talk about his embarrassment in Singapore, of course he will not let go of such an excellent opportunity.He knew that Lin Zhenhua was an entrepreneur with considerable energy in China, so he hoped to take this opportunity to instill the idea of ​​the Kra Canal to him.

Seeing Lin Zhenhua's bewildered look, Chen Tian couldn't help pulling him aside, and introduced the ins and outs of this incident to him.Lin Zhenhua was stunned for a while, and after listening to everything, he let out a long breath and asked, "Ju Chen, so you always knew about this?"

"Nonsense, what am I doing? The Kra Canal is not only an economic issue, but also a very sensitive international political issue. How could I not know about it?" Chen Tian said dissatisfied.

Lin Zhenhua said: "Since you already knew it, why didn't I hear you mention it? If Ji Lapon didn't mention it, wouldn't you want to mention it at all? I'm still in the dark."

This time it was Chen Tian's turn to be stunned, and he asked: "Zhenhua, you don't want to say that you are really interested in this plan, do you?"

"Why not?" Lin Zhenhua asked back.

Chen Tian thought for a while and said, "The construction of the Carat Isthmus will bring a devastating blow to Singapore's economy, and it will inevitably arouse strong dissatisfaction in Singapore, so..."

"So we are afraid?" Lin Zhenhua said bluntly: "When these grandsons keep saying that they want to block the Strait of Malacca, why don't they consider our dissatisfaction? They don't treat you as a relative at all, and you rush to help others Think about it. If people are dissatisfied, you don’t dare to do it anymore. Do you have the nerve to say that you are a big country with 13 billion people?”

"Our country's policy is peaceful coexistence and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. This principle was put forward by the older generation of leaders, and it is still not outdated today." Chen Tian explained.

"Chen Bureau, I remember that you said it yourself two days ago. If people don't attack me, I won't attack; Isn't this deceiving oneself and others?" Lin Zhenhua said.

Chen Tian frowned. He began to realize that Lin Zhenhua's words might be right. The country tried to show the image of a responsible big country in many matters, and had always taken a patient attitude towards the harassment from surrounding Xiaoxiao. What major decisions were they making? Whenever possible, efforts must be made to avoid causing damage to neighboring countries.Now it seems that there are naturally some countries that are sympathetic, but there are also many countries that give face to their noses. We really don't need to give them too many opportunities for such countries that repay kindness with complaints.

"However, our country does not participate in the construction of the Kra Canal. In addition to political considerations, there are also economic considerations?" Chen Tian found a way for himself, "We once asked experts to conduct a demonstration. After the completion of the Kra Canal, it can only save more than 1000 kilometers of transportation distance. Compared with the voyage of tens of thousands of kilometers, the savings are not large. The investment in building the Kra Canal is not small, and it may take decades to recover these investments time, it is not economically viable.”

"Damn!" Lin Zhenhua said contemptuously, "Your security department should check the old background of these experts. I guess one of them counts as one, and they are all commercial literati with funding from Singapore. How big is the investment of 200 billion yuan? 200 billion will open up a new channel for our country. How do we calculate the security value? According to their theory, if the navy goes to escort the Gulf of Aden, the fuel consumption will be greater than the loss of merchant ships being robbed by pirates. Why don't we go? gone?"

"There is some truth to what you said." Chen Tian nodded.He is a government official. When thinking about problems, he is greatly constrained by the rules and regulations of national policies, and he will fall into a fixed thinking pattern unconsciously.Lin Zhenhua is in the market, plus he has the inherent advantage of being a traveler, so he thinks about problems more eclecticly, which is why Chen Tian is willing to bring Lin Zhenhua out to do business.Hearing Lin Zhenhua's statement, Chen Tian had to admit that Lin Zhenhua was right.

(End of this chapter)